A Heartland native, Florida Rep. Ben Albritton (R-Wauchula) pulled away early to win the State Senate District 26 seat in Tuesday’s General Election against political newcomer Catherine Price (D-Lake Wales).

At the time of this report, Albritton received 116,983 votes where Price had only received 62,687 in the district, which encompasses all of Hardee, DeSoto, Highlands, Glades and Okeechobee counties, as well as parts of Polk, Charlotte and Lee counties. Charlotte, Hardee and Highlands counties were still tallying their results.

“It is a huge task to be a State Senator,” said Albritton. “It's a huge blessing that our constituents turned out and chose us."

The seat opened up when current Sen. Denise Grimsley (R-Lake Placid) made an unsuccessful run in the Republican primary for state commissioner of agriculture.

Campaign fundraising was an early sign of the mountain Price had to climb. In the end, Albritton raised just over $340,000 for his campaign, whereas Price raised just under $49,000, according to the most recent reports from Florida’s Division of Elections.

While Albritton believes fundraising helped his campaign in reaching the district’s constituents, his party’s message played just as much a part of the win.

"I believe that our message about being deeply interested in every corner of the district and spending time talking to voters has shown our constituents that we care,” said Albritton. “That’s not going to change when we walk through the door in Tallahassee. It was important to them and it is important to me."

Price, a nurse and public health administrator, promoted better health care and improved access to affordable care in the state.

“There is a lot that needs to be done in Florida,” said Price. “I think that I did the best that I could. I think that we traveled extensively (but) it’s a very conservative area. I hope that my opponent will make himself more available to the community and understand the problems that are out there.”

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Catherine Price will be the epitome of excellence as a public servant once she does get into office. I have known her as a friend and a colleague for forty years. Her integrity and work ethic are inspirational, even as she exudes a sense of creativity and lightness as she accomplishes so much. She is bright, broad thinking, an excellent communicator, and perhaps even a better listener. Hopefully she will run again, and the people will reap the benefit of her integrity, her ability to work with those who might disagree with her, and her lifelong intention to help our world be a better place.

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